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Enola Gay Navigator Theodore J. Van Kirk's War Time Flight Records, Including the Log Sheet Recording the Hiroshima Bombing....
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$18,750.00
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Description
"Dutch" Van Kirk's World War II flight records, including the Enola Gay mission to Hiroshima
Enola Gay Navigator Theodore J. Van Kirk's War Time Flight
Records, Including the Log Sheet Recording the Hiroshima
Bombing. Approximately 70 sheets (mostly typed carbons)
generally 8 ½ x 11 inches, dated April 1, 1942 to July 1946 when
Van Kirk ended his career with the Army Air Force. The pages are
contained in a card stock folder with Van Kirk's name typed on a
tab. Most significant is the log sheet for the month of August
1945. The log lists a single flight on August 6 using a B-29 (the
Enola Gay) and making a single landing. The sheet contains the
carbon signature of George Marquardt, who certifies it is
correct.An additional sheet lists that Van Kirk was awarded the Silver Star medal for his part in the Hiroshima mission. It records that he departed the United States for the mission on June 25, 1945 and lists the flight on August 6, 1945. The number of combat flying hours is given as a total 12:15 with a cumulative total of 25:35 hours for the two months on duty for the mission. Van Kirk signs with his initials in live ink, "TJV."
The historic flight lifted off from Tinian Island at 2:45 A.M. on August 6, 1945. At 15 seconds past 8:15 a.m., "Little Boy," a 9,000-pound uranium-235 core-fissionable atomic bomb was released over Hiroshima, Japan. Forty-three seconds later, after the bomb detonated at 1,890 feet, the city was decimated; 71,000 were killed or assumed dead, 68,000 were injured and 60,000 buildings were destroyed. A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, three days later. Japan surrendered a week later. The war in the Pacific was over. World War II had ended.
Van Kirk joined the Army Air Force Aviation Cadet Program in October 1941. He received his commission and navigator wings on April 1, 1942. This event is recorded with the earliest document in the archive of the same date listing Van Kirk along with 30 other men as "rated Air Craft Observers." The document recording that he has reported for active duty on that same day is also included.
Other notable flights that are recorded include the mission to fly General Mark Clark to Gibraltar for a secret rendezvous with the French prior to Operation Torch. Paul Tibbets is listed as the pilot for all of his flights for that month. In November 1942, Van Kirk participated in a total of ten flights, of which six are marked as "Secret" and includes taking then General Eisenhower to Gibraltar to command the North African forces.
The folder contains all of Van Kirk's missions while in the service, and although most of the signatures are carbon copies, there are a few live ink signatures; most notably a full signature ("Theo. J. Van Kirk") on a receipt acknowledging he has received a copy of the Navigator's Information file. A similar flight log of Paul W. Tibbets flight logs sold at auction for $86,500 in 2014. Heritage previously sold Van Kirk's actual flight log for the Hiroshima mission for $358,500 in 2007.
Condition: Pages have general age toning, with the top sheets having minor rust stains due to the metal clasps holding them in place. Light creasing along some edges. The pages related to the Hiroshima mission are near fine.
Auction Info
2024 April 5 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6285 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
April, 2024
5th
Friday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 7
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